The back door opened as a young woman sneaked in, she perused the old man's house and his possessions. In the dim lamplight, her eyes snagged on the crown made out of silver and spinel. Her nimble fingers snatched the slave crown. 

Just as she was about to wear it, the old man spoke. "Took you long enough! How goes the robbing and plundering trade?"

The young woman dropped the crown and corrected him.

"I PREFER the term treasure hunting!" Keylla picked up the slave crown. 

"Ha! Semantic nonsense!" The old man took it from her hands.

"There's a HUGE difference!" Keylla swiped the crown back, "Anyway, were you the one who sent for me?"

"Yeah. There's a girl I'd like you to meet."

"!?" Keylla gave an accusatory glance at the old man and glared at him, "This better not have anything to do with that Magitech-riding, imperial...witch!!!"

"Imperial troops are pursuing her even as we speak. This town is no match for the Empire. Our independence can only be assured if we join forces with the Re--"

"No! We can't trust her, David. She's an imperial officer, she could pose a threat to our mission." Keylla rebuked him.

"That girl wasn't responsible for her actions. We must get her to understand our dilemma!" 

"Yeah right! Suppose that she accepts to help our cause, then what? She could be an imperial spy for all we know!" Keylla scoffed, "What proof do you have that she won't turn against us?"

"You have the Slave Crown, the same one the Empire used to control her." David crossed his arms. Keylla had the slave crown in her hands, which meant that she had a valuable weapon at her arsenal.

"All right… you made your point. We'd better help her…" Keylla obliged, convinced.

"Agreed. Make your way first to Vigoreaux, and talk to the king." The old man stated.

"I'll keep this in a safe place. You'll never know when it'll come in handy." Keylla clasped the crown in her belt. No doubt she would use it to control the king to give her the treasure.

In the mines the guards had searched through every nook and cranny to find the imperial soldier. Keylla on the other hand knew every inch of the mine and used a secret entrance to get to the girl before they did.

Keylla jumped down to find the imperial officer unconscious with minor injuries, though her skin was cold and clammy due to the freezing temperatures. She saw that Gemma had beautiful curly blonde locks. For someone who lived in an empire with extravagant decor and embroidery, she must have something valuable on her person.

But before she had the chance to check through her pockets the guards found them. "Now we gotcha!"

"Wonderful... There's a whole bunch of 'em." Keylla's tone dripped with sarcasm.

Out of the blue, a group of Moles had jumped out to protect their turf against the invaders. As the guards approached, Keylla and the Moles took their stance to fight them off. 

Most of the Moles danced to invoke the rocks to land on them, use a slashing wind to cut through the fur coat like razor blades and swallow some of the guards in a mudslide all while Keylla punched them, stole a random object from them or they were defeated in a matter of minutes.

"Thanks, Moles! We're in your debt!"

The Moles made a victory dance before they returned to their nest before Keylla had to carry her halfway to the secret passageway.

The treasure huntress laid the imperial officer on the ground, then looked for the hidden switch. Keylla touched the fissures of the cracked stone wall through her mittens until she found the switch and pulled it to open the wall. The tremor it produced upon opening stirred Gemma awake as she felt the freezing winds of the snow enter. 

"Eh? You back with us now?"

Gemma looked up to see a woman in a fur coat and a fur hat. "You...saved me?"

"Save your thanks for the Moles!" Keylla stated as she crossed her arms and looked at the outside world.

"Uhh...I can't remember anything...past or present…" Gemma said, unsure as she stood up.

Keylla put her mittens on her cheek and mock-gasped. "You have amnesia?!"

"A man said my memory would come back…" Gemma told her, clearly she didn't catch Keylla's sarcasm.

"Unfortunately," Keylla commented, "By the way, this secret entrance might be useful someday. Don't forget about it!"

The two ladies exited the cave and they ran from the city-state and headed on their way to Vigoreaux, which was a three day trip on foot. 

On their journey, the treasure huntress and the amnesiac girl traversed through the cold snow for nearly three hours until they stepped on cool grass. Needless to say, they had to set up camp.

The only thing they had to keep themselves warm was Keylla's fur coat. Just because they made it out of a snowed city like Gelid, it didn't mean that the wide field wasn't as chilly during the night.

"Go to sleep." Keylla warned while she laid her head on the ground as she turned to the side in a fetal position to keep herself warm.

Gemma tried to sleep, but she couldn't get a shut eye. When she closed her eyes, she saw an image of charred imperial soldiers being reduced to ashes. She peeled her eyes open and shuddered, she shook like a leaf as the sound of a sadistic laugh echoed in her mind. She vaguely remembered standing next to a man with wavy white hair as it barely touched his shoulders like a puffy cloud. This man wore a steel blue uniform with a golden sash adorned with sapphire and silver pins.

He stood next to her while an aged man with a greying beard gave a speech to a sea of soldiers cheering.

Gemma had no idea who she was, she didn't know herself other than her own name. The amnesiac girl turned around and saw the treasure huntress fast asleep, lightly snoring, jaw slack as her short platinum hair looked sleek and shiny under the night sky.

The woman she just met is practically a stranger, the only thing she knew about her was her interest in treasure hunting and where she was taking her.

While they fled from Gelid at the time, Gemma tried to keep herself warm while they ran, it became dark. Neither of them could see where they were heading. The erstwhile imperial officer made light manifest in the form of a small flame hovering over her pale hand. Keylla surmised that the girl wandered off, or even worse, found a way to escape and tricked her. At least she had the slave crown, or at least she thought she did while she rummaged through her belt and pockets until she realized that the slave crown was also gone.

"Those sneaky Moles!" No doubt that it was one of them who surreptitiously stole it while she carried the girl. The amnesiac was unconscious by then. She was furious that she couldn't blame her, and she was irate that she didn't have the chance to test it on King Roni. She wanted to test it on the king of Vigoreaux for him to empty a small fortune upon her request.

Keylla angrily kicked the snow to the air as it dissolved on the tree trunk. Keylla spun around and groaned angrily.

For years the resistance have tried to find a way to infiltrate the Ethereal Empire and failed. The only member of the resistance that was able to put a dent on their defenses had turned their back on them. Especially on her, the only hope the resistance had was the amnesiac imperial officer. 

As much as Keylla hated to admit it, Gemma was the only beacon of hope they had to get through the Empire.

Keylla looked up in the sky and saw the snow descend. She closed her eyes, inhaled, then exhaled. "If there is a way out of this tempest, show me the beacon and I will follow it without question."

Keylla opened her eyes and saw a bright dot from miles away. She walked towards the light while the one who wielded it moved in a zigzag trying to adjust their footing. When she recognized who it was, Gemma put out the fire from her hand to embrace Keylla for warmth. Keylla exhaled as her breath escaped from her lips in the form of faint wisps.

Gemma tucked her knees to her chest and closed her eyes and her drifted mind drifted off to slumber.

Keylla woke up by dawn to the bright orange hues of the sunlight, she sat up and stretched her arms then let out a yawn. She looked to her right to see Gemma still asleep. The treasure huntress repeatedly tapped the amnesiac to the cheek to wake her up.

"Wake up, we have a long path ahead of us."

Gemma stirred before she wiped the sleep from her eyes. Keylla picked up the fur coat and wrapped the sleeves around her waist while Gemma dusted herself off. Before they headed on their way to Vigoreaux, they encountered a white rabbit covered in cabbage leaves.

Gemma cupped her cheeks, mouth agape and squealed, "So cute!"

Keylla picked up the confused animal, surveyed it. "Hold this." She passed the white rabbit to Gemma while the blonde amnesiac petted it, Keylla went to search for firewood.

There weren't any trees for miles as the eye could see, so she took out a dagger from her pocket to cut the branches from on of the bushes.

Gemma stroked her index finger on the rabbit's cheek, the animal brushed its whiskers against her finger.

"You're covered in leaves. Let's get you cleaned up." Gemma pinched one for the leaves attached to the animal and pulled while the white rabbit whimpered.

Keylla raised an eyebrow as she pushed the leaves back and she couldn't find a single branch. Well that's strange. There is only cotton. As she cut the cotton she saw a patch of skin.

The baby rabbit whimpered.

"Don't worry, it's okay. It won't hurt a bit." Gemma cooed before the baby rabbage bit her hand. "Ouch!"

The baby rabbage hopped out of the way and whinied, alerting its family.

Keylla's eyes bulged when an adult rabbage woke up from its slumber and its red eyes glared with indignation. "Rabbages."

Keylla ran away from the rabbage to warn Gemma, but it seemed that Gemma was already surrounded by four large rabbages. Each one bared their buck teeth ready to bite.

One of them got stabbed from behind then got burned alive with the fire Gemma invoked. The rabbage that loomed behind her bit her shoulder plate. Keylla charged in with her dagger in hand to stab the beast in the eye first, then cut its throat open in a swift motion before killing it. One of the two remaining rabbages scurried away, the last rabbage saw Gemma utter an incantation to heal herself.

The bitemark that was on her finger was gome, though the indenture on her shoulder plate remained. The immolated rabbage perished, and the last rabbage let out a hiss before it fled.

Keylla eyed at the rabbage she slayed, then at Gemma while the amnesiac stared at the dead rabbage. Blood spilled out of its neck and left eye socket.

"We finally found food for breakfast. Do you mind cooking this one?" Keylla requested while Gemma furrowed her eyebrows and glared at the dead beast, flames reflected on her golden irises.

"Gladly."